


Some Things Can't Be Solved By Being Cut With a Sword

by DreamoftheWild



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Adult Illiteracy, Fluff, Gen, Learning to read, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:15:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26724250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamoftheWild/pseuds/DreamoftheWild
Summary: Sky knows Time is hiding something. Well, everyone in their group was hiding something, but whatever Time was keeping to himself was certainly bugging him a lot more recently.
Relationships: Malon (Legend of Zelda)/Time (Linked Universe), Sky & Time (Linked Universe)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 168





	Some Things Can't Be Solved By Being Cut With a Sword

**Author's Note:**

> This is directly from my Live Write on Discord so if you find any mistakes please let me know! :)

Sky knows Time is hiding something. Well, everyone in their group was _hiding something,_ but whatever Time was keeping to himself was certainly bugging him a lot more recently.

Sky isn't sure if any of the others had picked up on Time's strange behavior, he knew he was more observant than they gave him credit for. They'd all only been traveling together for a week so far, after all. That was not quite enough time to pick up on the small habits each had gained on their adventures.

His suspicions start when Time asks him to read a signpost at a crossroads. The others were lagging behind a bit, and somehow Sky became one of the few walking at the front of the group. He points to the left path, "Uh, says the closest city is this way." Time just nods a thanks in return.

The next clue is when they stop in a tavern for grub when they finally make it into town. Time only looks over the menu for a brief moment before closing it, "I'll just take what he's getting." 

He chooses poorly and ends up with Wind's choice of cucco nuggets and applesauce. He doesn't seem to have any complaints though.

The final thing that confirms Sky's theory is when they get to the town's inn, and Time blatantly ignores the guest check-in book at the counter. 

"Sir, please write down a name for your party."

Sky steps in and writes down his own nickname, later claiming that 'Sky' was more likely of a name than 'Time'. No one thinks anything of it, but he sees the brief flash of uncertain panic in Time's eye when Sky looks right at him.

He meets him outside after dinner, on the large front porch. Time stands against the railing, facing towards the door. Sky says nothing until he is next to him, resting his crossed arms on the guardrail, looking out at the sleepy city.

"Time," he starts, voice low, "you can't read, can you?"

Time doesn't respond, but the tensing of his shoulders is enough of an answer. 

"Nothing wrong with that you know. I don't want you to think I'm poking fun or anything."

Time huffs and gestures for Sky to follow him. A walk it is then.

They descend the stairs and walk past the night time crier. It stays quiet between them as they pass through the town center, now devoid of people. Sky lets himself be led to the fountain in the middle of the square.

"So, how'd you find out?" Time crouches down next to the edge of the fountain and grabs a handful of gravel from a crack near the base, picking out the largest pebbles and dropping the rest. He busies himself with tossing them in the water one by one as they speak.

Sky joins him, grabbing a few pieces of his own and throwing them in, like feeding breadcrumbs to birds.

"I've known for awhile now, I just didn't know how to bring it up."

Time pauses for a second and raises an eyebrow at him.

"When we were on the road, and you asked me to read that sign... I started suspecting. But, it was a few more things I noticed that really made me realize." 

They both continue throwing their stones in the water in silence. It's a calm moment with no tension in the air. Sky even sees that Time's shoulders have relaxed. 

"You know," Sky starts again when his last stone hits the water with a small ripple, "I'd be willing to teach you. Only if you want that, of course."

Time is taken aback. He drops the rest of the pebbles in the water at once and wipes his dirt-caked hands on his trousers. "I don't know if I should feel offended or not." His tone sounds as serious as always, but Sky could tell he was just messing with him.

Sky chuckles and pats his hands clean as well, "Come on. I have some teaching experience, and I already know you can write! I've seen you practicing the alphabet."

Time looks slightly embarassed under the mask he kept on, "I thought I felt someone watching me."

Sky steps forward and puts a hand on his shoulder, "Hey," he gives him a reassuring look, "It's actually a lot more common than you think. I don't know much about your story, but I'm guessing you never had enough time to learn."

Time seems to be contemplative for a second, as if just realizing it was never his fault. Sky doesn't know how to feel about that.

He backs up and holds out a hand, "I won't tell the others, that's not my business. But, my offer still stands."

Time nods and gives him a firm handshake, "I may just take you up on that."

Sky's smile is bright.

They start back to the inn after that, in companionable silence. No more words needed to be said, they are just content with walking side by side and enjoying the night air.

It's only when they get close to the inn that Time gets his attention. "Sky?" Sky inclines his head to the side in question. "Thanks." He nods with a small grin, and they head inside.

The next morning, Time can't help but feel excited, though he would never show it.

Learning to read. _Finally!_ He never truly thought he needed it, on his adventure he relied on Navi to translate the written word. Until he married Malon, that is.

Paperwork for a farm? That was something he didn't know was necessary. The work contracts, weekly profit margins, and other sorts of things, it all started piling up. Poor Malon had to sit with him and read the important bits so he knew what he was signing. Sometimes they'd have to stay up late into the night, half asleep on the kitchen table, and have to continue in the morning.

Enough was enough. This time, he'd help himself for a change.

He finds Sky after breakfast, sitting with Four and Wild on the floor in the lobby. "Let's go into town." His thumb jerks in the direction of the door.

The other two look confused as they point to themselves.

"Just Sky." Time says and leaves to wait outside.

"What did you do?" Four asks as the door closes behind their leader, and Wild grabs Sky's arm. 

"How the hell'd you get in trouble with Time?" Wild prods at the same time.

Sky shakes them off and stands up, clasping his loosened sailcloth around his neck, "Relax, I just had a talk with him last night about some supplies I wanted to pick up. He said we'd go out today." 

He leaves before the chef and smithy have time to give him a list of things they wanted.

* * *

  
Sky spots a bookshop as they walk through the marketplace. He pats Time's arm and points towards the quaint little store shoved between two larger shops. "Hey, let's go in there." Time nods his agreement and the two shove their way through the crowd to head inside.

Sky walks up to the counter where a woman is standing with her back turned to them. "Excuse me?" He calls politely, as to not scare her. She jumps in shock anyway.

"Oh hello! Sorry about that." She puts down the book she had open in her hands. "How can I help you?"

He smiles, "Sorry for scaring you! I was just wondering if you had any beginner reading books?"

She tears up suddenly and wipes her face, "Oh, they grow up so fast, don't they?" 

Sky nods with a chuckle, "Uh, yeah." He gives the older Link an amused side eye, "They really do." Time decides the ceiling is suddenly much more intersting. His hand scratches the back of his head in embarassment, a quirk they all seemed to unknowingly share.

"What do you need exactly?" She asks as soon as calms down. She leans down and flips through a small box of cards under the counter. 

Sky takes a moment to think, "Phonetics, early beginner stuff. Possibly with easy words?" He feels bad for getting Time children's books, but they didn't exactly make many books for illiterate adults.

“Ah, we get our books secondhand, so we don't have a lot in stock right now. I'll grab the few we have, though." She picks out a few of the cards and disappears into a back room.

While she's gone, Time gives him a glare. Sky just laughs at him. 

She comes back after a few minutes with three small books, each no larger than a diary. She sets them on the counter and gestures Sky over to check them out. 

He flips open to a random page in each of them and reads a few lines. His face lights up, "These are perfect. How much for them?"

  
  


Soon, they are sitting in a quiet corner of a cafe they heard briefly about whilst running around the market. It's perfect, the boys would run out of town entirely before suspecting they were in a place like this. 

They are brought two glasses of milk and a small basket of bread rolls to share. Sky takes a sip of his drink and pulls out the small burlap sack of books they purchased. He pulls out what seems to be the easiest one and places it between them on the table. 

"I think this one will be good to start with. I want you to read the first sentence, as best as you can. I'll be able to tell what you need help with." He keeps his voice low enough that other patrons wouldn't eavesdrop on their private session.

Time nods and grabs the book, flipping the cover over and tucking the first page under his thumb. He clears his throat and squints to focus on the text written there, having trouble with the foreign symbols.

"The c-c..." His brow furrows in concentration. He sets the book back down on the table and points at the first troublesome word, "I've seen this one before. How do you say it?" Sky leans over to read the word, slightly leaving his seat so he can see under Time's fingernail. 

"Ah! A cucco." He smiles and taps a picture on the seond page, a drawing of the vicious animal. "Sometimes the pictures will give you clues if you aren't sure."

Time has a look on his face like a kid getting a compliment from his father, "I knew I'd seen it before."

His joy after recognizing a word fueled his desire to continue, he brings the book back up to his face. 

"The cucco.. ha.. has.. f...f.." He stutters as he tries to figure it out in his head and say it at the same time. He begins to look a little frustrated.

Sky can tell when it starts to upset him so he pushes Time's forgotten milk closer and smiles, "You know the letters, try sounding them out in your head." 

Time grabs his glass in his free hand and takes a hearty swig. When he sets it back down it is empty.

"Alright." With this new information, and a belly full of his favorite drink, he gets back to work. He runs his finger along the word slowly, mouth silently forming the sounds of each letter. 

"The cucco has.. fee..ah..ters." 

His pronunciation is off, but Sky thinks he's doing a great job. "You're picking up on this really fast." He taps his fingers on the bottom of the book as a way to ask for it.

Time lets Sky pull it out of his grasp, and listens with rapt attention as he explains the process of shoving two letters together and the different sounds they could all make. 

"Feathers. That's how this one is said," Sky shows him the page again, "You were very close." His brief lesson is over, and he hands the book back. 

They go through a few more pages, and more glasses of milk, before Sky ends the session. He looks out the window and it's starting to get later into the evening. 

"We should head back before Twilight starts tearing up the town in search of you." 

Time sighs but agrees, they both pull out rupees to pay for the service and head back. 

Sky was right, when they get back to their shared room, Twilight is threatening the poor, confused cook. While they are distracted, he finds a place to stash the books. He tries to do this discreet;y, but he swears Legend watches him closely during dinner that night.

* * *

Another month on the road, and it's almost like Time had always known how to read. Every sign, shop, random scrap of paper in the wind, if he could read it he would. His spelling was still not the greatest, and he blanked when it came to the harder words, but he was more proud of himself than he'd ever been.

He thinks he's ready to try something else. 

They are camped in the woods of Time's Hyrule. The older hero had decided to take them on a detour after recognizing the area, and they would get to this mystery destination in a week or so. 

It's getting late, and the sun already abandoned them to just the dim light of the campfire. Sky sits nearby on a fallen log, writing in his daily journal. He's interrupted when something, no, someone blocks the light he was using to write. He glances up at the intrusion. 

"Hey." Time has a jar of ink and a quill balanced in one hand, "Do you have a piece of paper I can use?" 

Sky tilts his head to the side, curious, "Sure, what are you doing?" He rips out a page near the back of his journal, careful not to disturb the binding. Time just takes it and walks away, "Secret."

The same thing happens every night for the whole week they are on the road, and it's at this point that Sky figures he should march them into town and buy Time his own damn notebook so his would stop being destroyed. 

The paper thief doesn't strike again on the last night, and his notebook is safe. For now. "I'm still getting him his own." Sky grumbles to himself as he lays down to sleep.

He doesn't figure out what it was all for until the next day. 

"Welcome to Lon Lon Ranch." Time announces. They reached the end of the dirt path leading up to a humble looking ranch house surrounded by white fencing. A lady with red hair is waiting for them at the gate. Time runs ahead to meet her.

"You're home!" She practically throws herself into his arms, kissing him on the lips.

She's so caught up in her joy, she almost forgets the other were there. "Oh, look at you all!" She smiles wide when she untangles her limbs, "My husband has told me all about you in his letters. It's nice to finally meet you all!" 

"Letters?" Sky's thoughts latch onto that, "ah, he defaced my notebook for a reason." He glances around at the group, no one knows about the struggles Time had been going through the last month, so they wouldn't think anything of it. 

How Time was able to find the Postman and get him to deliver letters from the middle of the woods was a question he didn't think he wanted the answer to.

He's still lost in thought as Malon herds them inside like a pack of rambunctious goats. He snaps out of it when he spots a pile of familiar colored papers spread out on the kitchen counter. 

Malon sweeps the letters into a drawer before he can investigate. "They are private, Link." He has to remind his curious side.

“Everyone settle in and then we’ll help with chores.” Time is already unclasping his armor and shucking off the shoulder plates. Everyone groans and complains so he adds, “Twilight can confirm that on a farm ‘no hard work means no dinner’.” 

After hearing that the boys hurry to change and unload their gear. They took dinner as serious as battle.

  
  


After dinner, which was heavenly with the powers of both their talented cook and Malon combined, they all disperse to relax after a long, hard day of working and walking. 

Sky finds solace alone on the porch. The twilight hour, that the hero of the same name seemed so fond of, ends with the sun making it's final descent beneath the horizon. 

He stands there in the dark, leaning against the guardrail, listening to the wind blow soft melodies through the crop fields. 

The front door opens behind him with a creak and the porch light flicks on. Footsteps approach softly, but loud enough not to make him feel snuck up on. 

A hand finds his shoulder and gives it a squeeze.

"Hey." He can recognize that fake snarky tone anywhere. 

"Hey, Legend." 

He leans over the railing with Sky, joining him in his respite.

"Good job, y'know, helping Time." 

Sky blushes and steps back, flabberghasted, "Wh-What? How'd you find out?" He stammers. 

Legend smirks and brushes the bangs out of his face, "I already figured it out, I just didn't know how to bring it up without sounding like a jerk."

Sky scratches the back of his head, "Yeah, me too. I was scared he was going to punch me or something." 

The share a short chuckle, giggling to each other like schoolgirls behind their teacher's back.

After the laughter quiets down, Legend pulls out a folded piece of paper, "Here, this is for you, Malon gave it to me." He hands the letter over to Sky. 

Sky opens it, confused. 

_Sky,_

_Thank you. I dont know how ill evur repay you._

Sky doesn't know if he wants to laugh or cry. "I don't deserve his thanks, I didn't do it for praise. It was no big deal." 

Legend scoffs, "You're too nice for your own good." He shakes his head. "Come here." He grabs Sky's forearm and drags him over to the window near the door, gesturing for him to look inside with his head. "No big deal, huh?"

When Sky looks inside and sees the two lovebirds cuddled up in a nest of soft blankets, a book shared between them, all he can do is smile. He looks down at the letter in his hand, and then back up to the scene inside. He thinks to himself, "Your happiness is all the payment I need, Time."


End file.
